1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing a graphic user interface composed of a plurality of columns, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for providing a graphic user interface composed of a plurality of columns to allow a user to work on content with a selected target device according to a user-generated column selection order using a graphic user interface including a work command column, a content type column, and a target device column.
2. Description of the Related Art
Related art environments having networked equipment were typically limited to specific users. However, the wide spread of the Internet has substantially influenced the whole field of the digital industry. Internet-based services and contents have become barometers of the 21st-century digital industry. The advent of global communication networks, such as the high-speed Internet networks, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDA), or notebook computers, has brought to the forefront previously impracticable capabilities. What was at one time a mechanism for rudimentary data exchange has evolved, and continues to evolve into a means for distributing a wide variety of media.
The concept of computer-based information communication changes to the concept of Ubiquitous. “Ubiquitous” is a Latin word which has a meaning of “being in existence anywhere and anytime”, and in the recent communication technology, the word is used to define an environment which enables a user to freely access a network regardless of location.
FIG. 1 shows the evolution of digital information appliances. In the 1980s (the computing network age), personal computers (PC), notebooks, main frame computers, and work stations constituted a network to communicate information. The networking was limited to laboratory or office purposes.
The advancement of the Internet in the 1990s, however, has enabled home stations to gradually gain public attention, and the limited Internet networking has become available to individuals and home appliances.
In the 2000s, wireless networks have been proliferated remarkably, and the transmission speed of cable networks has increased tremendously. As a result, the distribution of large-scale multimedia content has begun to hit its' stride and digital broadcasting is being actively researched. In addition, some digital broadcasting services have already come into common use. Various electronic appliances have evolved into information appliances under the concept of Ubiquitous. Digital information now can be exchanged through not only computers or workstations but also digital televisions, cellular phones, video phones, or smart phones, and can also be transmitted and received between electronic appliances such as a refrigerator, a microwave oven, and an air conditioner via the home network and Ubiquitous network.
FIG. 2 illustrates a related art home network user interface based on electronic appliances. A user can work on a home network based on electronic appliances. In other words, after first selecting a target device, the user issues a command to the selected target device or uses media sources of the selected target device. In this case, the user selects a target device from devices illustrated in FIG. 2, and checks the function of the selected device to work as desired.
At this time, it is assumed that the user already recognizes the state and function of the target device like when the user desires to watch a TV or to control indoor temperature by manipulating an air conditioner.
However, as the number of devices constituting a home network increases, it is difficult for the user to know the states and functions of all the devices of the home network. For example, when the user desires to control indoor temperature, the user may become confused as to whether to manipulate an air conditioner or a heater. When the user desires to listen to music, but does not know to what device target the content is connected, the home network user interface based on devices cannot provide a desirable result to the user.
FIG. 3 illustrates a related art home network user interface based on content. When a user works on a home network, the user can work based on content. In other words, after selecting desired target content, the user checks a target device that operates the target content and operates the target content using the target device. In this case, the user selects content from listed content and works as desired using a target device appearing with the selection, such as when the operation of the target content through the target device is simple and the user reproduces music content using an audio device, or watches sky wave broadcasting on a TV.
However, as devices constituting a home network have various functions, the user can perform various operations on single content. For example, the user can perform various operations, such as screen display, copy, edit, and print, on still image content.
Since the method of using a home network becomes more complicated with the development of the home network, it is not easy for the user to obtain a desired result using a related art method that does not consider a home network device, a content type, and a work command.